How To Get A 5 On Ap Psychology?
Sabrina Sarro
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How Can I Get a 5 in AP Psychology? Getting a 5️⃣ on the AP Psychology Exam is very doable with hard work and practice. Plus, we’ve got some tips and tricks for you to help you get the score you deserve in May 😌 Before preparing for the exam, it’s good to know what exactly is on it. Here is a quick overview:
- You have 1 hour and 10 minutes to answer 100 MCQs
- These will count for 66.7% of your total exam score
- You have 50 minutes to answer 2 FRQs
- These will count for 33.3% of your total exam score
Here is also a quick breakdown of what units are on the test:
Units | Weight on Exam |
Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology | 10-14% |
Unit 2: Biological Bases of Psychology | 8-10% |
Unit 3: Sensation and Perception | 6-8% |
Unit 4: Learning | 7-9% |
Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology | 13-17% |
Unit 6: Developmental Psychology | 7-9% |
Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality | 11-15% |
Unit 8: Clinical Psychology | 12-16% |
Unit 9: Social Psychology | 8-10% |
Looking at the exam breakdown, you can identify which units you should prioritize over the others. Since about 13-15% of the exam will be about cognitive psychology 🧠 and 12-16% will be about clinical psychology🛋️, you should focus on these two units more than sensation and perception 👀 Pacing is important! AP Psychology 🧠 covers so many different topics that involve your wellbeing and social interactions/behaviors.
This course generally includes lots and lots of vocabulary terms, so start memorizing early! 🤔 Throughout the year, as you learn each unit, try and memorize each term for your exam ✍️ Doing well on your unit exams and preparing for them will help you in the long run. Memorizing once and then refreshing your memory in April when studying for the AP is much more effective than cramming! You actually learn this term in psych – relearning.
This only ensures that you understand the content🧠 and leaves much more time to do practice questions❓ when studying for the exam. Set yourself up for success and try not to cause yourself too much stress!
- There are tons of resources you could use to help you study!
- 👉5 Best Resources for AP Psychology (coming soon)
- Study a little bit everyday, and trust me, you’ll do so much better in the long run ☺️
On the exam, you will be given situations and asked to apply psychological concepts or explain behavior using a term you learned throughout the year. With such a fun and interesting course, why not practice this on your own with situations in your own life? 😍 Every time you learn a new term, try and figure out a time where you’ve seen it in action 🎬 For example, you could probably think of several times where you’ve seen polarization between two groups.
- Applying the vocab to real life situations only makes it easier to understand and memorize 😉
- After applying situations to your own life, try some AP practice questions.
- Use your textbook throughout the year for solid ones that would help you understand each unit further🔖
“Really understand the vocab and how to apply it! At the end of each unit, I would go over the vocab and find ways to apply it — there are many FRQs to work on that.” —Abby L.
- Once May comes around (sadly, sooner than you expect it 😫), try doing tons of past AP FRQs.
- AP Classroom is also a really good source for practice questions, so be sure to take advantage of this free, accessible content.
- Know yourself:
- Know how you learn 🤔
- Do you prefer watching videos or reading study guides to help you review content? Does writing information down several times help with memory 🧠? What about diagrams📊?
- Know what information you are comfortable with 😆
- Make a table with two columns (comfortable with / need improvement on) and just review this column briefly.
- Know what content you need more practice with 😰
- Using the above table, place content that you need more practice with in the “need improvement on” column. Focusing your studying in specific areas becomes very helpful and efficient. 💯
Everyone learns differently, so find something that works for you! Also, don’t stress if you are taking a little more time trying to apply the content and need to ask more questions in class. Seriously, don’t be scared! Asking questions and wanting to learn and do better is always a good thing 🥳 A lot of the information you learn in AP Psych can either be organized in tables or represented by a diagram.
- 📈 Almost every unit could be organized in table form.
- For example, Unit 2, Biological Bases of Psychology, involves lots of diagrams of the brain 🧠 An example of using diagrams and tables for your benefit is trying to memorize one and then filling out a blank one.
- If you were trying to memorize the parts of the brain and their functions ⚙️, you could label each part of the brain and write the function of the part right next to it.
This not only helps you memorize, as you can do this several times, but it’s also more entertaining than trying to memorize by reading (at least in my opinion🤭). Stay confident and take things slow! Memorizing and practicing is 🔑, especially with such a content heavy course.
The most important tip you should take away from this guide is to always apply the terms to real-life situations. The exam doesn’t test your ability to define a term; the College Board wants to see you put your knowledge to use🧠 Don’t forget to have fun too; you learn some pretty cool things in AP Psych 😉 “Keep your mind open! Be ready to learn and digest new information every day.
Keep up with your readings, and the course will leave you with knowledge that will change your thinking for the better.” — Meghna P. : How Can I Get a 5 in AP Psychology?
Contents
Is it hard to get a 5 on AP Psychology?
What Do Statistics Say About the AP Psychology Exam? – How hard is the AP Psych exam based on statistical data? To answer this, we’ll look at the pass rate and 5 rate. In 2021, the pass rate for the AP Psychology exam was 53.3%, which is somewhat below average compared to other AP exams.
In comparison, AP Physics C: Mechanics has an 73.4% pass rate (one of the highest), whereas AP English Literature has a 43.8% pass rate (one of the lowest). The pass rate statistics appear to indicate that the AP Psychology exam has a medium-to-hard difficulty level when compared with other AP exams.
The 5 rate for the AP Psych exam is 14.1%, which is about average when compared with other AP exams. There are 18 AP exams that have 5 rates higher than AP Psychology and 20 with lower 5 rates. This might make you think that the test is average in difficulty.
- But what does this data really tell us? Interpreting these statistics means striking a difficult balance.
- Paradoxically, sometimes AP tests with high pass rates are actually more difficult,
- Since the subjects themselves are challenging (and have a reputation for it), they only attract the most motivated, well-prepared students.
Similarly, AP tests for easier subjects might have low pass rates because these classes attract less motivated students who don’t always prepare thoroughly. Low pass rates can also happen on extremely popular tests for which the number of students taking the test has increased rapidly, but their average level of preparation has declined due to the uneven quality of AP classes.
Since AP Psychology is in the middle range of pass rate and 5-rate statistics, we might initially assume that it has a medium level of difficulty in comparison to other AP tests. However, because AP Psychology is also one of the more popular tests, the 5 rate and pass rate could actually indicate that it’s much less difficult than your average AP test.
In most other cases, popular tests have 5 rates that are skewed lower than the 5 rate for the AP Psychology exam. Taking all this information into account, we can conclude that signs point to AP Psychology being one of the easier tests. The fact that it has only two free-response questions (as compared to six on a test such as AP Biology) and that most of the material can be mastered through simple memorization also support this conclusion. Only two free-response questions??? WAHOOO!
What do you need for a 5 on AP Psych?
How is the AP Psychology Exam Graded? Students generally want to know how the different sections of the AP Psychology Exam are graded so here’s an overview, along with an explanation of raw score conversions and estimated grade distributions. The Multiple Choice Section Section 1 of the exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions.
Each question has 5 possible answer choices and each correct answer is worth 1 point on your raw score. There’s no penalty for incorrect answers, so guessing can only help your score and you should never leave any questions blank. The multiple choice section is worth a total of 100 points towards your raw score.
The maximum raw score is 150 points, so this means that the multiple choice section accounts for 2/3 (67%) of your total score. The Free Response Section The remaining third (33%) of your score comes from the free response section. The free response section consists of two free response questions which are worth a total of 50 points on the raw score.
Each FRQ is worth a total of 25 raw score points. As mentioned in, each free response question contains 7 key terms which must be addressed. The 25 total points for each question is divided evenly for each of these 7, meaning that each correct application is worth 3.57 points on your raw score. There is no partial credit for these answers, so for each term you either earn the 3.57 points or you earn 0 points.
The scoring is the same for both free response questions. The Raw Score Conversion After combining all your points from both sections, you’ll receive a raw score out of a maximum total of 150. This score is then converted into an AP score ranging from 1 to 5.
The exact cutoff points on the raw score for each AP score from 1 to 5 varies each year, so I can’t tell you exactly what raw score you need to earn a 5. But I can give you some sample cutoffs from previous years and estimate what percentage of the exam you need to answer correctly in order to earn a 5.
Below are the cutoff scores for some previous exams. These scores indicate that students need to correctly answer about 70-75% of the exam questions to earn a 5, Over 250,000 students now take the exam each year, and approximately 20% of students worldwide earn a 5.
2014 Exam 99-150 = 581-98 = 466-80 = 356-65 = 20-55 = 1 2013 Exam 110-150 = 592-109 = 477-91 = 365-76 = 20-64 = 1 2012 Exam 112-150 = 594-111 = 479-93 = 365-78 = 20-64 = 1 2007 Exam 113-150 = 593-112 = 477-92 = 365-76 = 20-64 = 1 2004 Exam 107-150 = 590-106 = 473-89 = 356-72 = 20-55 = 1
Preparing for the AP Psychology Exam? The guide can help! : How is the AP Psychology Exam Graded?
How do you ace AP Psychology?
AP® Psychology Study Guide Step 3: Test Yourself! – As you’ve hopefully already learned through your AP® Psych course, the key to solidifying any behavior is practice and repetition. This isn’t just a fact you need to remember for the exam – it’s also something you can apply in your studying! The best way to prepare for the AP® Psychology exam is to test yourself using practice exams from previous years and review questions from other sources.
- When you’re first starting out with your reviewing and studying, don’t worry too much about setting a time limit on your practice exams.
- You may even find it helpful to have your notes or a review book right next to you so you can immediately look something up that you don’t remember.
- This will help you out in the beginning stages of your study plan.
Eventually though, as you get closer to the exam date and in order to get the most out of these practice sessions, it’s important that you set it up just like you would if it were the real thing. Sit at a desk in a quiet room with no distractions. Yes, that means turn your phone off and put it aside as well.
Set an alarm to give yourself only the amount of time you would have for each section if it were the real thing: 70 minutes for the multiple choice and 50 minutes for the free response. Take your practice tests seriously; they will show you what areas you need to work on the most in your study plan. After you’ve completed your practice test, go over your answers carefully.
Don’t just count up your score and call it a day, because the real learning comes from going back and finding the correct answers to the questions you got wrong. Make sure that you understand why it is that the answer you chose was incorrect. Was your knowledge of the material lacking or did you fall into a trap set by confusing wording? Being able to recognize what kind of tricks previous exams have used will help you prepare for them in your own exam.
How many hours to study for AP Psych?
#1: Plan Out Your Time – How much time do you have before the AP Psych exam? You’ll need to take this into account when formulating your study plan. Think about how much time you can afford to spend studying for AP Psychology while considering the amount of other schoolwork you have. For example, if you think you’ll have about 10 hours to study, your plan might look something like this:
Take and score a practice test (2.5 hours) Go over your mistakes (1 hour) Review weak content areas and update your test-taking strategies (2 hours) Take and score another practice test (2.5 hours) Final review (2 hours)
If you have more time before the exam, you might be able to go more in depth with your mistakes on the second practice test and even take a third or fourth test. Overall, your time should be split relatively evenly between taking practice tests and reviewing the material.
- Your plan could change depending on your initial scores and how much you’re looking to improve.
- I’d say that you don’t need to spend more than 20 hours in total studying for AP Psychology.
- The amount of material isn’t overwhelming, and it’s not an especially difficult test, so this should be plenty of time.
(I’ll get more specific on how to use practice tests effectively in the next section.)
Is AP Psych hard?
How Difficult Is AP Psychology – As Rated By Class Alumnae – AP Psych is considered very easy, with class alumnae rating it 3.5/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 2nd-easiest out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed.
Can I go straight into AP Psychology?
Yes, 100%. You don’t even need to take the class to take the exam (so that homeschooled students or those without access are able to as well). Check to see your nearby schools for areas that are recognized by College Board to see where your testing centers are, and register early next year. Good luck on those AP exams!
What is the most AP classes ever taken?
The record for the most Advanced Placement tests ever taken is 30 — AP scholar Justin Zhu even earned the highest score possible on 26 of the 30 tests he took. Is it a good idea to encourage your child to break Justin’s record? Absolutely not. However, the harsh reality is that many college admissions officers expect to see some AP tests on the transcript of every student whose high school offers them.
- If AP classes are not an option, college-bound students need to seek other means of challenging themselves in order to demonstrate a high level of academic rigor.
- The late Eric Rothschild, a Harvard alumnus and celebrated high school history teacher, states in his journal article, “Four Decades of the Advanced Placement Program,” that in the early 20 th century the gap between secondary and higher education broadened, and few people in the United States wished to address that issue.
Then, Rothschild explains, “The Cold War and the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 changed all that, convincing many that the upgrading of American education was a matter of survival in a death struggle with communism. We needed engineers and scientists and people of talent in all areas if America was going to see another century.” A pilot AP program in 1952 was launched to increase opportunities for exceptional students.
- Seventy years later, AP classes are more widely available and must adhere to a standard curriculum set by the College Board, which has governed the program since 1995.
- The College Board delegates test design and evaluation to Educational Testing Systems.
- By 1984, South Carolina established a state-funded AP program, requiring all public high schools to offer AP courses and all public universities to accept scores of 3 or higher on AP tests.
From its inception, the AP test has been scored on a scale of 5 (High Honors) to 1 (Fail). One practical alternative to AP coursework is taking dual enrollment classes at a local community college, thus earning not only college credit but also grades that might transfer to a university.
Another possibility is self-study. Technically, a student can take the AP test without having enrolled in the corresponding class, but preparation requires a great deal of personal discipline. Even students who complete an AP course probably need to use a study guide and take practice tests before sitting for an exam.
Each year, the College Board website posts its free-response questions after the testing period, so students can familiarize themselves with the format and content of the test. As another alternative, some students opt to enroll in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a demanding advanced curriculum which started 50 years ago in Switzerland.
- Particularly ambitious high schoolers might take AP classes concurrently with IB classes.
- But the two programs offer different coursework.
- IB is centered around critical thinking skills and global awareness, and AP focuses on individual college-level subjects.
- In 2014, the College Board added a program that appears to align more closely with the IB diploma curriculum.
The AP Capstone Diploma and the AP Seminar and Research Certificate require students to take in-depth seminar or research classes in addition to four or more AP subject courses. AP classes are offered in 38 subjects, all standardized high school curriculum designed to mimic college coursework.
- Because the classes are so demanding, even the most selective universities do not expect students to take more than seven to 12 AP classes.
- Many people can take three or four and still get into a school of their choice.
- In the 1980s, college-bound students could get by with taking one or two AP tests, and classes were not as standardized as they are now.
Although some students begin AP classes as sophomores, or even freshmen, most wait until their junior year. It is wise to consult teachers and guidance counselors early in students’ high school careers to decide whether AP classes are appropriate. A history of good performance in honors-level classes is usually a good indicator that a student is ready for Advanced Placement.
- Students should choose classes based on personal preference, as AP classes demand college-level work, which is time-consuming and difficult even when the subject matter is interesting.
- The College Board also administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the PSAT, a practice test that students take in eighth or ninth grade.
Score reports on the PSAT indicate whether a student’s performance on the test demonstrates an aptitude for any particular AP class. Many other factors should be considered before signing up for an AP course. Many schools add as much as one point to a final AP grade, which raises a 4.0 to a 5.0, and up to half a point to an honors grade.
- It is important to consider the benefits of a weighted grade against the work required for an AP class versus an honors class.
- A good grade in an honors class might be better than a poor AP grade.
- Before deciding which classes to take, a student should find out how much homework each course requires.
- Extracurricular activities or responsibilities after school might make it difficult to complete a lot of homework.
Also, if a teen wants to study a subject in which he does not have a natural proclivity, an AP class might not be the best choice. Still — it bears repeating — high school students should have the final word in choosing their curriculum. Now that AP courses are standardized, AP teachers are encouraged to ask students to watch videos for homework on the AP Central platform or YouTube channel.
One reason for this is to provide “expert” instruction that is consistent for students across the nation. Some teachers find that assigning students videos to watch, even if they contain relevant AP topics, is counterproductive. In part, this is because students can passively watch videos while checking their social media accounts on their phones.
And, honestly, after a year of virtual learning, kids may be tired of online instruction. In order to address the issue of high-stakes testing, a teacher might need to employ a backward design of curriculum, which means teaching students what teachers expect will be on the exam.
- Do AP teachers have to teach to the test? Yes, sometimes they do.
- Physical, mental, and emotional health should always be a priority.
- Teens need eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — and Mama.
- Staying up late every night in order to memorize facts or annotate 50 pages of reading can result in diminishing returns.
In her 2015 book, Beyond Measure: Rescuing an overscheduled, overtested, underestimated generation, Vicki Abeles, with co-writer Grace Rubenstein, bemoans the fact that school has become a source of stress. “Our children need our understanding,” she writes.
“Sometimes they need us to help them talk with teachers and principals about overwork.” She advocates telling kids that neither grades nor test scores define who they are and encouraging them “to exercise voice and choice in the school experience.” One school Abeles visited, Irvington High in California, discouraged students from registering for too many AP and honors classes in an effort to boost their chances of getting into college.
In 2014, guidance counselors met individually with every underclass student in the school to help them register for classes. They also set prerequisites for AP and honors classes. Within a semester, Irvington High cut its AP failure rate in half. What can parents learn from this? Seize the opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers and guidance counselors whenever you can.
Especially if your child is a high achiever, you may be tempted to leave her to her own devices. Attend the meetings anyway. Even if you listen more than you talk, which is not a bad plan, you can gain invaluable insight into your child’s education. Once a student has narrowed down a list of preferred colleges, check the institutions’ websites and the National Center for Education Statistics, found at NCES.ed.gov, to compare college programs and admissions requirements.
Some schools grant college credit for scores of 3, 4, or 5, and others do not accept anything lower than a 4. If the chief purpose of taking an AP class is to exempt the class in college, it might help to know what score is required on the AP test. Earning college credit for AP classes can save tuition dollars, and it can also provide a little wiggle room for students to complete an internship, take some electives, or even graduate early.
- If an AP class is appealing for reasons other than earning college credit — perhaps a history buff might actually enjoy memorizing facts and dates for AP U.S.
- History — then it does not really matter whether that student ends up with a 4 or 5 on the AP test.
- Learning, not achievement, should always be the main goal.
And here is another bit of advice: despite what students might think, they are not required to take the AP test just because they took the preparatory class. It is certainly preferable to take the AP test because admissions officers will wonder why a college applicant would skip it, but students can explain why they chose not to take the test.
- Being too lazy to study is not a valid excuse, but a reason like having to hold down an after-school job might be.
- However, it does cost $94 to take an AP test, and either a parent or the school itself has to pay the registration fee six months prior to the test, which is administered in May every year.
If someone registers for a May test after the November deadline, the College Board will add $40 to the fee. Cancelling a score after sitting for the test also incurs a $40 fee. This puts a lot of pressure on a young person. Still, if a school and teacher have invested time and money to provide AP instruction, the least students can do is sit for the exam.
- Parents can help by knowing when to protect their children’s mental health even at the expense of test fees.
- They can also hold kids accountable — if students commit to taking the exam, they should show up, barring illness or other extenuating circumstances.
- The key for students is to sign up for the test only if they are prepared to do their best work in an AP class and the effort required to prepare for each test.
What is the worst that can happen? If a student receives a score of 1 or 2, then they might have to take a course again in college. In the grand scheme of life, one AP exam score is not all that important. Allison Tate Slater, in her essay “College Counselor: This Matters More Than Anything Else” s hares this parental wisdom on Grown&Flown.com : “It’s easy for any of us to get caught up in all of it, to begin to believe that we need certain scores, grades, titles, or acceptances to validate ourselves and tell the world our value.
Our job is to let our children know that their value is inherent.” Not every school offers all 38 Advanced Placement classes, but here is a menu: Art and Design (formerly Studio Art): 2-D Design Art and Design (formerly Studio Art): 3-D Design Art and Design (formerly Studio Art): Drawing Art History Biology Calculus AB Calculus BC Chemistry Chinese Language and Culture Computer Science A Computer Science Principles English Language and Composition English Literature and Composition Environmental Science European History French Language and Culture German Language and Culture Government and Politics (Comparative) Government and Politics (U.S.) Human Geography Italian Language and Culture Japanese Language and Culture Latin Macroeconomics Microeconomics Music Theory Physics 1: Algebra-Based Physics 2: Algebra-Based Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Physics C: Mechanics Psychology Spanish Language and Culture Spanish Literature and Culture Statistics U.S.
History World History: Modern Research Seminar Where is the Class of 2022? Congratulations to the graduating class of 2022 on their first semester of college! Below are the top 15 colleges attended by this year’s freshmen from a sampling of independent schools and public school districts of the Midlands.
How hard is AP Psychology?
How Difficult Is AP Psychology – As Rated By Class Alumnae – AP Psych is considered very easy, with class alumnae rating it 3.5/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 2nd-easiest out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed.
What is a good score on the AP Psychology exam?
What is a good AP® Psychology score? – The College Board designates scores of 3 and higher as passing scores. Qualitatively, scores of 3, 4, and 5 are described as “qualified”, “well qualified”, and “extremely well qualified” respectively. In addition to looking nice on applications, high AP® scores can earn you college credit.